Saturday Squee - National Hugging Day

Courtesy of http://icanhascheezburger.com

Because, really, there isn't anything cuter than cats hugging, unless it is on National Hugging Day :)

I am sorry that I didn't get to post this week's Tuesday's Treasures, Arwednesdays with Arwen or Thursday's Treasuries. Arwen jumped off my bed on Monday and really hurt her shoulder. We *think* she pulled a muscle or something in her shoulder or leg, but she was limping really, really badly and for a few days it was all I could do to keep her still (she might be 8-1/2 years old, but the Border collie in her makes her act more like a 3 year old). She could put her weight on it, and would run up and down the back stairs if she saw a squirrel, which was the only reason I didn't rush her into the emergency vet that very second I saw her limping. 

Anyway, I slept on the living room couch with her for a couple of nights to keep her from jumping up and down on the furniture, which meant I didn't really sleep for about 3 days. Plus, when she did jump up onto the bed or a couch, I had to lift all 53 pounds of her off of it so that she wouldn't jump down on her own and hurt herself even more. This ended up being the reason I hardly got into my workshop for most of this week, let alone spending undivided time with my laptop.

Fortunately, she is better now, she only limps occasionally, and even then, it is so minor as to be almost invisible unless you are really staring at her. I am hoping to get back to our daily morning walks, and even the weather seems like it will try to cooperate, as it is only supposed to be -14 Celsius tomorrow.

Only.

Yippee.

So after all of this, we are now, as they say, back to our regularly scheduled programming, and I will continue with the regular blog posts from now on. 

Barring, of course, any other major dog injuries, personal illnesses, or acts of supreme deity.

I have my fingers crossed for smooth sailing :)

Announcement: Fintan is in Need!

Fintan needs your help (if you are able)! My parents adopted Fintan, and his brother Laughlann (see the original post here: http://meglittlestudio.blogspot.com/2009/11/year-later-in-memoriam.html) last year, and though they are coming along in leaps and bounds with their socializing, my parents have discovered they have allergies. Fintan has been having problems with his feet - they crack and bleed and even though he has been on two different types of antibiotics (at once), they are severely infected. The vet wants $600 to do a biopsy to see what the heck is going on.
The problem is that my parents don't have the money (sorry if this embarrasses you mom, but I want you all to be happy).
The solution? I am going to put at least 40% of the total sales from my Etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlestudiojewels toward Fintan and his poor little feet. Anything you purchase this month will go towards Rescue100 (10%) and Fintan (at least 40%). If you are able to purchase, please do. I know people are wary of donating to others they don't know, so this way you get to have beautiful jewelry and help some great causes. If you can't purchase (or even if you can), please pray for Fintan, we don't know what will happen if they can't afford the biopsy. For now, he is going back on another course of antibiotics.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you so much, and God bless,

Soulful Sunday: In Honor of Trying to Lose Weight and Get in Shape

...Because we all know we've been there before in one way or another :)
from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Arwendnesdays with Arwen the Wonderdog: Happy Birthday Daisy!

We were visiting our friends over at Daisy the Curly Cat, and found out that today is Daisy's 6th birthday! Celebrate! Happy birthday Daisy, we hope you have many more!
Be sure to visit her blog to see her presents and a few of her very adorable outfits.

Til tomorrow,

and Arwen

Soulful Sunday: Getting into the Holiday Spirit...

From http://icanhascheezburger.com/
I thought it might get you into the spirit.... :-)

Soulful Sunday: A Whole Lotta Food!

I hope all of my American friends had a great Thanksgiving, full of joy, laughter, and of course, good food! I thought the cat above was appropriate. Image is from http://www.icanhazcheezburger.com
I'm off to clean the house a bit, do some groceries...and play with my new workbench! It finally arrived - a little different than the photo online - and is now just begging to be used :)
Have a great Sunday!

Soulful Sunday: Keep the Cats Away From Your Monitors...

From http://icanhascheezburger.com/ I couldn't help but laugh out loud as I saw this...one of those, "It's funny because it's true" sort of things. Just don't use those cupcake wrappers when the hamster's done with them...no, those aren't raisins (ewwwww).

In other news, I visited the Ottawa Glass Bead Artists Show in Ottawa yesterday and had an absolute BLAST!! SOOOO many amazing artists, including a friend of mine, were showing some incredible beads that weren't so much beads as miniature works of art. I'm waiting on permission from a photo so I'll post all about it when I get the permission.

That is all for now, I hope you have a relaxing Sunday. I am going to bake cookies, make cupcakes to get ready for a cooking class, bathe the dog and maybe, just maybe, get some crocheting in there :)

A Year Later: In Memoriam

Well, it has been one year. On this day, November 3, 2008 I lost my beloved Gandalf to a rare hip disease. It was tough initially, but I have been very fortunate to have had a loving family, a fabulous dog, and the wonderfully supportive blogging universe here to help me. He was a great cat. Headstrong, full of dandruff, but great. I have made peace with his departure, and I have his ashes and many, many photos to remember him. Also, there is always life where there is death. I donated money to Guelph University's animal sciences department to help research cures for diseases in cats and dogs. I also donated to the Country Cat Sanctuary, and in doing so, found my new 'brothers'...
This past summer when my parents lost their cat Sheeeba to old age and arthritis, they knew they wanted to adopt after they had grieved her properly. After a few months of an empty house, they knew what they needed to do, so they started making a wish list for their perfect cats: they wanted a pair of cats to keep each other company and they wanted cats that were having a hard time getting adopted. Enter the Country Cat Sanctuary and Fintan and Laughlan. They had other names that currently escape me, but they were brothers who had been at the shelters foster home for over a year, leaving their kitten hood behind in a haze of 16 other cats. They hadn't been socialized and were frightened. But they loved each other. They were brothers and stuck to each other like glue, sleeping on top of each other, even when there was a whole bed to sleep on.
My parents spent some time with them at the foster home and knew they needed to give them a try. They took them home and after a few scared weeks, the year and a half old brothers are now ripping up and down the house, have had their nails cut for the first, second and third time (ever!), have seen the vet to get their shots and checkups and are happy. They have found their forever homes, and my parents have found their "neener heads" (goofballs), their life after death, their cure for grief. Yes, we miss our lost pets, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, there is always life after death.

I think Fintan and Laughlan totally agree.

Remember, please adopt, don't shop for pets. There are millions of animals waiting in shelters for their forever homes. Just because they don't have papers or fancy pedigrees, doesn't mean they won't make excellent pets that fill your lives with joy for years. Please give a homeless animal a chance at a great life and visit an animal shelter near you for your next pet. Maybe you'll find your perfect "neener head" yourself :-)

Soulful Sunday: The Day After Halloween

Image from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Since it is the day after Halloween, I thought this was appropriate. I remember as a kid trying to avoid the houses that didn't give the 'good stuff' and then comparing notes the next day at school with other kids to see who gave out full sized candy bars, cans of pop, and other cavity creating confections, and to try and remember to go to those houses the next year... I never got a toothbrush though. Good thing....those people would have gotten toilet papered for sure!

Thankfully, living out (WAYYYY out) in the country means that we don't get trick-or-treaters, and thus don't have to worry about getting egged or TP'd for not giving out good candy. Being about half a mile from the nearest house means we have to watch our mailbox getting smashed occasionally (not yet, thank goodness), but that can happen at any time, not just at Halloween, lol. In 7 years, we haven't had a single person come for candy...though that may be also in part to the fact that Brennan makes us sit in near total darkness "just in case" someone wants to bus into our remote area and try their luck....

Have a great Sunday,

Sweet Saturday: Happy Halloween!

Since Arwen doesn't have a Halloween costume *yet*, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite blogs and their dressed up animals. Please be sure to click on the links here to go and see more of these great blogs.

Here is Sadie from BeadedTail. She is dressed up as the KC Wolf mascot.
Always the proper kitty, here is Daisy from Daisy the Curly Cat, dressed up as a devil cat. I think she is too pretty to be a scary devil, but she sure is a fabulous model!
And here is Ellie from Sniffie and the Florida Furkids. She is dressed up as a lady with a skull and crossbones.

Well, I have certainly learned my lesson! Next year I will have Arwen dressed up in something. I have even purchased a pattern to make something for her...but what will it be? You'll have to visit next Halloween to find out!

Happy Halloween!!

Soulful Sunday: A Little Bit of LOL

Okay, I admit it, I love plays on words. I also love cats. And sheep. So yeah, it works. Image is from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Have a great Sunday, full of laughter, love and happiness.

and Arwen

Sweet Saturday: Endless Whimsy Feature!

I am sorry for my absence yesterday and the accompanying absence of the "Fabulous Friday Feature" I normally do each week. Brennan had an appointment at a hospital in the city (nothing serious, don't worry), but it was at 7:50AM, which meant we had to be up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:30 AM (insert collective shudder here). By the time we got back I was so sore I couldn't do much more than sleep.
However, today is a new day and without further adieu, I present the belated Friday Feature, on Saturday.

~I Had to Include Her Dog Sculpture!~

Endless Whimsy is a fantastic artist whom I found when I joined the Etsy for Animals Street Team last year. Renovia makes beautiful sculptures and when my cat Gandalf died in November, I knew that her tribute sculptures would be perfect to honor and memorialize my special little guy. Sure enough, they turned out fabulously well (I got one for my mom too). When my parents' cat, Sheeeba, went over the rainbow bridge a week or so ago, I knew that I should call upon Renovia once more to make us some tribute sculptures in memory of her. Read on to find out more about this great artist.

~One of Her Gorgeous Tribute Sculptures~

1. How you got started doing your art:
A couple of years ago at the school where I teach the administration was on a 'wellness' kick. So the teachers got roped into taking classes taught by other teachers in the district. I signed up for a clay class with one of the art teachers. I was so incredibly excited about it - I took notes at night before bed about what I wanted to use my precious class time for. I knew I wanted to make a cat sculpture that was modern. So after a couple of sketches, I came up with a pose, the stretch pose. After class I went out and got some polymer clay because I just kept thinking about poses. I made about 20 cats in a couple different poses and loved all of them. Then I just figured the next step was to see if anyone else would like them. The polymer sculptures really took off and after a while I decided to make the jump into porcelain.

~Sitting....Scheming: A Pomegranate Kitty~

Porcelain offers detail that you just can't get in polymer. Sure you can get detail in polymer, but the way I pull the sculptures into shape, it eventually distorts some of the details. Plus I love having different price ranges and different mediums because everyone likes different things.

~One of the Beautiful Porcelain Sculptures Available~

2. Your inspirations:

My inspirations are my cats; Stoli (a Russian Blue) and Luxor (an Egyptian Mau). They both have crazy personalities and antics - and photographing them was just not enough. So when I see a new sleeping position or a playful pounce, I try to capture it in clay.

~Left: Stoli, Right: Luxor - Available in the Stationary, Cat Art section~

3. Your favorite pieces:
If we're talking about my favorite pieces I make, I have a love/hate relationship with tributes. Next to solid black cats, they are the most popular thing I make. It's difficult to begin because I know some one's heart is hurting from the loss of a pet and it makes me sad every time I have to make one of these sculptures. But I love doing it because I know that this special sculpture is going to mean so much to someone and hopefully it will make them smile and bring back many good memories.

~Small Porcelain Feeder Dish~

4. Are you involved with any animal or other charitable organizations and, if so, how that came about:
My husband and I volunteer for the Homeless Animal Rescue Team in Cumberland, Maine, a no-kill feline shelter. We decided one day after we got Stoli and Luxor that because we had not taken in shelter cats (and we were limited by our living conditions to only 2 cats) we would do what we could to help cats still living in shelters.

~A Ring Holder~

I feel very thankful that I have been able to pursue my passion for cats and art in a way that is satisfying and rewarding to more than just myself.

~Cat Ornaments~

Thank you so much Renovia, your art is simply sublime! Please do visit her shop to see some of her fabulous works.

Also, don't forget about my contest, see HERE for details.

Thoughtful Thursday: In Loving Memory

On Monday, August 13, 2009 Sheeeba, guardian of Monna and Daddoo's garden, went to kitty heaven. She was 16. Adopted at 8 months of age from the Humane Society of Ottawa-Carleton, she had been named "Scooter" and we had no idea why - until we saw her run around like house like a bat out of Hell....Scooter certainly fit her actions, but not her feminine personality so she was renamed Sheeeba. She had probably been an outdoor cat previously, and as she got older and (sort of) calmer, she was allowed to go out into the fenced in backyard and partake of fresh air and sunshine.

Happy to lie on any quilt in progress my Monna was making, killer of bugs, mice and (occasionally, unfortunately) birds. Puker-upper (usually INSIDE the house) of butterflies and dragonflies. Chaser of rabbits, eater of grass and weigela leaves, sniffer of peonies. Lover of linear string-like objects, stuffed cat toys, soft perches, hair brushes, animated TV shows with bugs and Cesar Milan. Friendly and determined, she was neither territorial nor was she submissive: rather, she wanted everyone to just get along and be happy. Friendly, curious, aloof, loving, alert, graceful, sleepy and happy, she never ceased to make our lives richer for having known her. She will be sorely missed.

We love you Sheeeba, and send you to Heaven with our kindest, most broken hearts.

, Arwen, Monna and Daddoo

Funny Friday - A Cat That Waters Himself

~Raff, in One of His Lesser Moments~

Now, I didn't tell my friend Louise from Fireseed that I had posted this photo of her cat Raff, so I hope she doesn't mind, but I really couldn't help it. A photo like this needs to be shown to the world, in all it's embarrassing hilarity. It really is an accomplishment to get your head, shoulders and one front leg in the toilet, with the other front leg on the seat, and the rest of you perching precariously on the seat.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Sweet Saturday - What An Awesome Thank You!

I visited good friend and glass extraordinaire Louise Ingram from Fireseed yesterday, to pick up the beads I traded for the amigurumi dolls I made for her and her cat and wow am I impressed! The pink beads I asked her to make waaaay back in February and I have a design just waiting for them - aren't they fantastic?
She had mentioned that she had included a few surprises and when I got home, I found these stunning red beads too - don't they just look like candy? Maybe rubies? I can't decide - but either way they are so gorgeous, I made a bracelet from them right away, see below for more pictures :)Then, I peeked into the bag again and out came these beads! Wow, I can't wait to make things with them, they are so different and beautiful :)
Last but not least (not by a long shot!), I found that she had included her famous animal beads! The naughty-but-nice Louise had included a Bunkee Bead (her delightful Monkees dressed as bunnies!), a black cat bead, and a sweet little black dog bead that I swear she must have used a picture of my dog to make, the resemblance is staggering (she got the smile down perfectly, lol).
I have to say I feel very spoiled and I will have to do a few more monkey dolls to feel I have repaid her for her amazing generosity!
Here is a photo of the bracelet I made with the red-candy beads - I made links from individual rings that I had linked by hand to make a chain mail knot, then I attached each link to a bead. I made a square clasp to match the square beads - too cool, huh? I know Louise definitely brings out the best in my work - her beads are so beautiful they always inspire a piece that is (in my humble opinion) as much art as functioning jewelry. Thank you Louise!

Thankful Thursday - Some Spring in My House and a Very Happy Cat

~Raff and his hand-crocheted toys~

~My Vegetable and Flower Seeds!~

I popped on my friend Louise of Fireseed's blog and found some truly adorable pictures of her cat, Raff, enjoying his new toys, Octothello and Beary and had to show you! I posted about crocheting the little amigurumi doll last week (Click Here for the post), and I was so excited to see him play with the toys and enjoying them :)
I also started some of my vegetable and flower seeds yesterday and though I still have to put my lights on the shelves to help them, I couldn't wait to show you that I now have a bit of spring in my house :D
I started my hot peppers, block peppers, cherry tomatoes, Brandywine (like beefsteak) tomatoes, asparagus (that will take 3 years to produce spears, but it will be worth it to have asparagus!!), Daisy Fleabane (so pretty despite it's name), pansies (the ones covered in foil so they germinate), and Canterbury bells (they attract the biggest, slowest, fattest bumble bees you've ever seen!).
I still have many seeds to start, as I have to time them with my plant out dates, so I'll keep you posted as I plant and as they grow....At least I don't have to worry about cats getting into the soil this year - Gandalf LOVED to ruin my seed starting by dumping the soil and rolling in it, and though I miss him, I will NOT miss coming home to a filthy cat and no plants! :s
I hope you have a wonderful day, and I will try to continue posting through the Easter weekend, though it may get a little crazy.
Until next time!